In the field of networking topology, channel hopping strategies have been employed to improve reliability for a low power and lossy network (LLN). Namely, time slotted channel hopping (TSCH) is where time is divided into several timeslots. These timeslots are grouped into one or more slot frames with each slot frame continuously repeating over time.
In the TSCH architecture, issues related to resource and schedule management are prevalent. Specifically, timeslots and channel frequencies in the underlying network between a source LLN device and a destination LLN device are inefficiently managed. For instance, LLN devices in 6TiSCH networks, e.g., IPv6 in TSCH, are resource-constrained and thus may not support session-based transport protocols or application protocols. Moreover, existing control protocols in 6TiSCH networks are inefficient as communication protocols between a path computation element (PCE) and LLN devices. Even if such resources were provided, the protocol header and processing time necessary to process existing protocols, such as UDP and CoAP at each layer, would cause additional overhead and significant delay.
Conventional path computation client communication protocols (PCEP)s and other relevant protocols also are not capable of supporting LLN devices to report schedule information. Moreover, conventional PCEPs and other protocols are not capable of supporting Track reservation in 6TiSCH networks. For instance, the PCE only sends a path computation response to the source node sending a path computation request. By so doing, the PCEP cannot push a Track to all LLN devices existing along a path between the source and the destination LLN devices.